building study - The Brindley, a much-needed performing arts building for Runcorn by John Miller + Partners, is also a symbol of its urban renewal, achieved not through blob or shard but by a more traditional, rational Modernism

Buxton Opera House is one of Frank Matcham's most glorious Edwardian plaster palaces. It was opened on 1 June 1903. A contemporary description gives some sense of its splendour among the millstone towns of the Peak District: 'Over the entrance vestibule is the grand foyer? furnished with counter, etc, for the dispensing of refreshments. The floor is covered with Turkey carpets, and there are silk brocade draperies to the windows; the walls are covered with a leather paper, and the ceiling is

The aftermath of the Boxing Day tsunami was worse than many could have imagined. But could a small ray of light emerge from the crisis? Ed Dorrell looks at what architects are doing to help and goes on a search for positives

Whenever you met Richard Feilden, senior partner of Feilden Clegg Bradley, you were struck by his infectious enthusiasm and intelligent impatience to make the world a better place through design. His untimely death at the age of 54, crushed by a tree he was felling, has already affected so many - his wife Tish and their three children, his practice, his institution (RIBA) and his commission (CABE) - and the waters are still rippling.

Some years ago, shortly before his death, Lord Stockton, better known as Harold Macmillan, the former prime minister, rose to deliver his last major speech to the House of Lords. At the height of the panic generated by the energy crisis of the 1970s - a time when the premier had ordered industry to work a three-day week while cabinet ministers urged the populace to learn how to clean their teeth in the dark - his was the voice of moderation. 'In times of financial stress, ' he intoned, 'we sh

Since I'm as likely to be as successful in convincing architects to hire professionals to design their websites as I have been in persuading my friends to hire architects for their extensions, here are some of the basic sources which potential web designers need to know about. First the prophet of web design, Jakob Nielsen and his www.useit. com. Then the W3C WAI guidelines.

So the planning system has defeated Erick van Egeraat and he has put his UK office into voluntary liquidation. The first reaction of many architects will be to nod sagely and look unsurprised. The iniquities of the planning system have after all replaced more general British topics such as the weather when a gathering of professionals wants to have a moan. You know that, whichever architect you speak to, they will sympathise. There is even an outside chance that they may have some useful advi

A new version of the exhibition 'Beauty and Waste in the Architecture of Herzog and de Meuron' - pictured above when it was installed at the Schaulager, Basel (AJ 10.6.04) - can be seen at the Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, from 22 January until 8 May. Details www. nai. nl

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